Rantings of my choice, generally centered around that which immediately effects me.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

What hump/limp? TMI

Well. Let's start at the beginning, shall we.

About a week and a half ago I noticed a little red bump under my bra straps on my back. It got bigger and begged to be squeezed. I begged my squimish husband to squeeze it, and nothing came out. We both agreed to let it wait and come back to it later.

For days it burned and ached. I would look longingly in the mirror for a head, only to find a growing patch of angry red skin without a head. I finally went to the grocery store for a head of cabbage. I was determined to get this thing to a head so we could squeeze it and give me sweet relief. That night (Wednesday, February 2nd) my husband folded and taped a leaf of cabbage on my shoulder in hopes that it would draw this to a head so we could drain it.

The next morning, I awoke as if it were Christmas. I was so excited to unwrap my shoulder to reveal a giant white head, indicating sweet relief. My husband peeled off the bandage, I peered over my shoulder into the mirror, only to see the skin was more red, more irritated, and larger than ever. No head.

I had to soilder on, as the 3rd and 4th we were having parent/teacher conferences. When I arrived at school, I was in so much pain, the only answer was to go to the nurses office. She peeked at my wound, gave me ibuprophen, and told me I needed to leave immediately, as my infection should have had me on my ass.

I left and went straight to the doctor's office, and my doctor agreed, I had a nasty infection. She could not see squeezing it, as there was no head. She wrote me a perscription for antibiotics and Loratab. I was instructed to come back on Saturday if my fever or the pain hadn't subsided by then.

Well, Saturday came and I had a fever and more severe pain. I went to the urgent care hours at my doctor's office, which means I will just be seen by whoever happens to be there that Saturday. This particular Saturday I got to see Dr. Payne. No, for real.

Dr. Payne agreed that it was the most horrifying infection on the planet. He tried to squeeze it, but to no avail. I began weeping, as I couldn't believe that I was still going to feel the burning and stretching of my skin for days to come. Dr. Payne had a plan. He was going to attempt to extract some of the buildup of pus with a needle. He numbed my skin, inserted the needle, and began extracting. Immediately, I felt a release of pressure. I could tell that he was working magic. He let out a surprised "Oh my," and then said, "Well, that could be why you were feeling so terrible," and showed me this...

I was disgusted, but pleased to see it out of my body. He told me to expect it to leak and to come back on Monday.

Well, on Sunday, my great friend Sarah came over to change the bandage. When she looked at it, she couldn't help herself. "Michele, this is ready. I've worked in wound care before. I'm going to work on this." She began to apply pressure to my back and clean what felt like gallons of goo off. I felt even more relief. We made an appointment for her to come back the next day before work, as my husband was out of town, so she was the only one who could change my bandage.

She came by, and yet again the wound was ready for more. I felt like I was surely about to be healed. Monday after work, I went to the Doctor, and she insisted that we lance the wound, drain it and pack it. If you ever have the opportunity to do this, DON'T! It burns like crazy.

I asked my doctor if I could still go to roller derby practice, so long as I took it easy. We are still in the beginning stages, so we mostly work out doing stretches, lunges, and jumps in shoes. I had missed the last practice due to the infection, but I wanted to show I was serious. The doctor agreed that physical activity would be a good idea, so I went to practice.

I got to practice, told my coaches my situation, and they both agreed that I should only do as much as I can do. They told me to take it easy and even step outside if necessary. I was excited. The coaches told us to strap on a pair of skates and do a few slow laps. We just needed to get used to being on skates. I put on my leisure skates and slowly skated around the perimeter of the rink. I even held the wall a few times. On my second lap I was still going slow, but I suddenly found my self losing balance.

My body does this ridiculous thing when I fall. It debates with itself. This way? That way? How bout over here? Meanwhile, gravity is still at work and I am rapidly falling. I fell and I saw my foot do a weird circle. I also heard a loud POP! I knew things were bad.

A couple derby girls came over, checked my foot, gave me ice and told me to rest for a minute. Another girl asked if I needed a ride. I thought surely I had just sprained my ankle, so I decided to drive myself. I hobbled out of the skating arena, to my car, and began the drive across town to the urgent care. When I got there I got an xray, and this is what I saw...

So. There you have it. February has started off a little rocky for me. But I'm on the mend. The doctor pulled the source of my infection out of my back today, so that should heal quickly. I have an appointment with orthopaedics on Thursday, so that should put me in a more appropriate cast.